Pennsylvania middle school bans Ugg boots

The truth is out. We finally know why teens love to wear Uggs. The sheep skin boots look great with skinny jeans (and pajama bottoms), and they offer a place to hide cell phones in class, according to the Daily Mail. At least that’s what a middle school in Pennsylvania discovered.

Pottsdam Middle School has a strict cell phone policy. Kids can keep a phone in their locker and use it at lunch but they’re forbidden from using their mobiles in class. Teachers noticed students were getting around the rule by stuffing their cell phones into their Ugg Boots, according to the Pottstown Mercury. Kids were sliding their fingers into the boots and sending text messages.

Principal Gail Cooper put a stop to this by banning “open top outdoor boots” in class. Students can wear the boots to school but they must change into different shoes before entering class. Tight-fitting lace-up boots are still allowed.

Both students and parents are annoyed by the new rule, and they expressed their frustration on the Mercury‘s Facebook page.

Amie Campbell wrote on the wall: “Simply Ridiculous!!!!…Pottstown took away individuality with its uniforms, now they wanna dictate what shoes can be worn. Don’t punish all [because] a few are idiots…”

Amy Myers shared: “Uggs have nothing to do with anything. If the kids wanna have their phones — they’re gonna have their phones. There isn’t [anything] the school district’s uniform policies can do.”

Because girls more commonly sport Uggs, some parents also feel that the new dress code rule unfairly targets female students.

Was a boot ban the best way for the school to deal with the cell phone problem?